MANILA, Philippines – Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Richard Gordon is seeking the arrest of two executives of companies with alleged links to the embattled company Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation. The two have never attended Senate hearings despite repeated summons.

At the Senate probe into the government’s overpriced deals with Pharmally on Tuesday, December 21, Gordon showed the photos of the two missing executives, namely Jayson Uson and Gerald Cruz. He said they were connected to the firms of former Presidential Economic Adviser Michael Yang.

Gordon added, “Si Gerald Cruz at saka si Jayson Uson, ito’y mga opisyal ng Pharmally at kasamang kompanya ng Pharmally na nagtatago na ngayon.” (Gerald Cruz and Jayson Uson are both officials of Pharmally and other companies linked to it. They have been hiding.)

The senator said that Uson is the president of Filipinas 168 Shopping Mall, Yangtze Group Trade, Paili Holdings Corp, and Sapphire Jewel 168 Holding. Meanwhile, Cruz is a stockholder of Filipinas 168 Shopping Mall, corporate secretary of Pharmally Biological, and corporate secretary of the Yangtze Group Trade. These companies have links with Pharmally.

Gordon said that the two executives have avoided all the Senate hearings.

Yang acted as financier and guarantor for Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, which is the biggest winner with P10 billion worth of contracts so far in the government’s pandemic procurement.

Gordon then appealed to the public to inform the Senate blue ribbon committee if they know where the two executives are hiding. He said finding the evasive pair will help the committee’s investigation. “Itong dalawang ito kailangang mahuli sapagkat para mabuo natin ang istorya,” he said. (These two need to be arrested because we need to complete our investigation.)

He also called on the Department of Justice, the Ombudsman and the National Bureau of Investigation to help them locate the two executives.

Pharmally executives siblings Mohit and Twinkle Dargani have been arrested on November 14 after the Senate issued arrest orders for the two on October 19 for refusing to submit documents related to Pharmally’s financial dealings.

– Rappler.com